Some 3D printers require continuous operation in excess of several hours to several days in order to complete a single print job. To verify quality after the print job is completed, the printed part may be scanned, for example, via X-ray, for voids caused by misfiring or non-firing jets/nozzles (i.e., an unacceptable jet failure) from the print head. This quality check can add more time required to fully complete a print job. If voids, such as those caused by failed jets/nozzles, are detected, the part must be discarded and a new part must be made.
It would be beneficial to detect a jet/nozzle failure during a print job, or at least reduce the time to identify such a failure. However, when these kinds of voids form in the clear or semi-transparent inks/plastics/waxes that are sometimes used as jetted/printed material, they are difficult to identify. For example, the scanners and/or cameras used for quality analysis cannot distinguish a clear print-material pattern (such as a dot or another shape) on a test strip from a non-existent or mis-located pattern/dot.
Accordingly, conventional jetting fault-analysis systems and methods of detecting jetting faults are limited by the shortcomings of the scanners and cameras currently utilized for detecting voids which cannot detect faults in clear or transparent print materials. Additionally, conventional 3-D printing processes are limited by the long production times that are further lengthened by post-print fault analysis. What is needed in the art, therefore, is a jetting fault analysis system and method for detecting jetting faults for 3-D print jobs that utilize clear print materials, and can perform in situ fault analysis, instead of after a 3-D print job is completed, in order to shorten production times.